Question
I have been growing my own cooking spices on my balcony for a few years now, and have been wondering what would be an appropriate light source to grow them indoors. I am definitely not willing to part with the outrageous amounts of money that MH or HPS lights/ballasts would cost me, yet I've also heard that flourescent tube lighting is simply not enough for very light-needy plants.

The only comprimise I can think of would be a compact flourescent grow light, yet I cannot find any store which seels them nor do I want to go through the hassle of ordering one online. I did, however, see a CFL for reptiles at petco.

My question- would this be an appropriate option? Will a reptile light put out the necessary spectrum? Will it put out any kind of harmful rays?

Here is a link to something similar to what I am talking about if it helps.

http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_Product_R_4882_PC_productlist_Nav_259_N_27+113_s...

Answer
Hi Dan,
I have several artificial lighting systems all through my house. I have set ups for all light levels and I didn't pay a whole lot of money for them either.
You can get florescent gro lights that come with fixtures at most home improvement stores ( I bought several of mine at Lowes) and they cost about $12. They are 15 watt tubes and I put a few of them together to get the light levels I want. I mostly use these for lower to medium light plants.
Walmart has a florescent gro light that also comes with a fixture that I have used a lot. They are 75 watt tubes and they cost about $10. You can also put more than one of these together to get the light levels you need. These are good for medium to high light plants. All these lights are also very easy to install just about anywhere. I have used plastic tie straps to attach these lights to bakers racks and wire rack shelves.
The best reasons to use florescent gro lights is they produce little heat and the type of light they produce is closest to the light a plant needs. The lights offered on the website you linked me to are full spectrum lights, that means they are the closest to sunlight. As we all know, natural sunlight is best for plants. Full spectrum lights on the other hand are NOT best for plants. When dealing with artificial lighting for plants, efficiency is important. Plants actually only use a fairly small percentage of the sunlight they receive, the rest is reflected away so when you use full spectrum artificial lights a lot of the light is not used by the plant and is wasted. Almost all of the light produced by florescent gro lights is used by plants so there is very little waste.
You mentioned that you have high light plants so I would recommend that you use 2-3 of the 75 watt florescent gro lights from Walmart, that should be enough for any high light plants. The plants should be placed about 8-12 inches from the lights and should get 16-18 hours of light each day. I would also recommend using timers. Timers make sure the plants receive the same amount of light each day and the lights come on and go off at the same times each day. You can get timers at most stores and they cost about $10 - $20, depending on what added features you want. I have several that work great that I paid $7 for.
I hope this helps, if you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks
Tracy
Here is a couple websites that you may find helpful;
http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/hort/g06515.htm
http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/fluorescent.html